Overview
- Official figures show average resolution times of 278 days in Álava, about 420 days in Gipuzkoa, and roughly 646 days in Bizkaia for communities’ applications to install or rehabilitate elevators.
- The Housing Department, led by Denis Itxaso, has formally asked to add around 29–30 staff as an immediate measure to clear the backlog and shorten processing times.
- Officials say delays are partly administrative but also caused by conflicts among neighbors over works and a lack of available elevator installers in the market.
- Long waits can postpone accessibility and maintenance work for older buildings, leaving residents with reduced mobility or stalled renovation plans.
- Measures to watch next are whether the extra hires are approved and deployed and whether contractor capacity or community disputes are resolved, because staffing alone may not speed up every case.